Akyazi- Cargo Stowage

A look at the U.S.S. McCook’s method of cargo stowage

The view down a major radial corridor on deck E towards the cargo section.  The cargo corridor is at the end to the left.  Cargo enters the ship from a staging bay just behind the bulkhead to the right.  The airtight door directly ahead opens into a large maintenance ring that circumnavigates a majority of the saucer’s outer rim.  This ring features prominently in cargo scenarios.

A step back reveals an inner concentric corridor to the left, and the main access door to the port side’s ventral workbee stowage and maintenance area (link) at the far right.

Here is the staging bay, facing inboard the vessel from near the port bow, one of the foremost parts of the ship.  The round airlock door was originally intended as just an airtight hatch, but I’ve since decided I want it to be a fully functional docking ring (travel pods will be able to dock), so it will eventually need to be moved upwards a tad to make clearance. 

Update: Fixed, and have added some more details.  This docking ring opens directly into the ventral workbee stowage area (link) located behind that bulkhead.  It is level with deck E where the cargo access corridors are located, so it opens a meter or so above the workbee’s docking area.  I’ll have to work on that.

Update:  Worked on that!  Came up with this little extendable stair step used for accessing the airlock hatch above.

It is stowage ready, folding and retracting into the bulkhead beneath the airlock to clear the way for docking craft.

When the bay is empty the stair step is typically extended for normal use.

Facing outboard towards the ship’s exterior hull.  The angle and curvature of the saucer’s outer rim is evident here.  The maintenance ring is off to the left along the ship’s outer hull.

Update: I experimented with a few details added since the original rendering: more internal frame work, maintenance ring door is now visible, deck plating along upper rise (which may have some variable gravity function), a control console, and some padded panels along the forward wall denoting the outer hull (smoothing errors currently visible).  I also added some tank props.  Such gear might be needed beyond the bulkhead in that corner since a set of reaction control thrusters are located there.

The recessed decking is actually the exterior hatch, essentially a huge hull plate that can be lowered and raised.  It was given a fairly flexible armature in order to ensure as many types of cargo carrying vehicles can make use of it.  Also, it allows the plate to be completely maneuvered out of the way should the bay take on its secondary role: housing relatively large modular structures for mission specific duties (the main reason I wanted a fully functional docking ring).  Here, a standard workbee cargo train maneuvers a delivery towards the plate.

From the loading deck, cargo pods head to the maintenance ring.  Anti-grav lifters and the ship’s variable gravity systems make this maneuver practical.

These cargo pods are taller than the average humanoid.

This very large hatch leads to the maintenance ring.  All cargo pods pass through this hatch to the ring in order to reach permanent stowage.

The  hatch is opening to the maintenance ring.  There is little here to give a sense of scale, but at about 3 meters high, it’s a pretty big door.

Back to the cargo corridor where it begins.  This is near the bow of the ship facing to port.  There’s the door to the maintenance ring on the far right.

Cargo pods can be seen on the right in their respective holds.  Inside the maintenance ring, pods are inserted into fitted compartments which extend through to the access corridor itself.  Escape pods are housed behind the bulkhead on the left and accessed from another corridor further inboard.

An earlier version I had to alter, as the ceiling duct stuck down too low and interfered with the cargo pods.  But it’s still a delicious image: slighter brighter, with a slightly different angle.

Continuing down the concentric space, a cargo pod is temporarily drawn out into the corridor to access necessary supplies.  Yet another radial corridor can be seen to the left.

A standard anti-grav pallet for carting materials throughout the ship’s narrow corridors.

Accessing the pod, loading the pallet, and delivering the goods.  Since the pods tend to obstruct the corridors, access to containers is usually limited to periods when the ship is at non-alert status.

View from same radial corridor seen just above.

Still further down the corridor, one arrives at the main docking gangway on the port side of the ship.  There is a fully equipped airlock between the outer hatch and the inner corridor.

The view from inside the docking airlock while not in use. Though the corridor continues on, this juncture marks an obvious break in the outer hull’s maintenance ring.  It resumes on the other side and continues on to a smaller staging bay at the saucer’s port side aft. Though significantly smaller, that bay also serves as the primary access for some of the saucer’s largest equipment.

Some modeling background images…

Some wire frame and deck plan overlays to help get a better idea of how things are laid out.

Wire-frame showing placement of the protracting cargo deck plate.

Protraction of cargo deck plate.  Though this level of extension is pretty standard,  the plate can swing completely out of the way if need be.    

Color coded deck plan, overlaid to help aid in the layout of the internal features.

Slightly angled for more perspective.